Tank hanger



-w. :J. MAISONYER HANGER Dec. 18, 1951 I fvz/rzl ar'. Wlliam f VaaorwrFiled Oct. 13, 1947 jar Patented Dec. 18, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFECE TANK HANGER William J. 'Masoner, Chicago, Ill.

Application October 13, 1947, Serial No. 779,549

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to tank hangers and more particularly to anarrangement which iulfills the primary purpose of supporting a tank inany desired position and which may be used to hoist the tank to suchposition.

While primarily intended for suspending from joists expansion tanksforming part of closed hot water heating systems, the invention is notlimited in this respect,- but may be used with any tank'whose size issuch that it is usually sup. ported manually while being installed.Expansion tanks, for example, are customarily supported by metal strapswhose ends are nailed or fastened to the floor joists by screws, acommon size for home use being thirty gallons and weighing seventy-twopounds, although the size will be larger or smaller depending upon theamount of radiation. This arrangement not only requires at least two mento position the tank, one to support the tank and the other to apply thefastenings, but the fastenings cannot be readily removed when it becomesnecessary to replace or repair the tank or remove it to a new location.

It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a tank hangerwhich is easily and quickly attached to a supporting member and enablesthe tank to be suspended at any desired distance from the member.

A further object is to provide a hanger of the character indicated whichis arranged for quick I detachment to permit removal of the tank andwhich may be utilized to hoist the tank to operative position. 7

'A further object is to devise a method of hoisting a tank to desiredposition by utilizing the ence being'had to the accompanying drawing,

and the novel means b which said objects are efiectuated will bedefinitely pointed out in the claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation showing a preliminary step in the hoisting ofthe tank to final position.

Fig. 2 is a view in reduced scale looking in the direction of the arrow2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the tank in finalsuspended position.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevation of one of the hanger :plates, as viewedin Fig. 2, showing the relation thereto of a tank supporting strapand ascrew that is threaded in a fioor joist.

Fig. 5 is a section along the line '5-5 in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the hanger plate before beingconditioned to grip a strap.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of 'a swivel block which enables the plateto swing relative to the associated screw.

Referring to Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, of the drawing, the numeraldesignates a hanger plate of generally rectangular shape whose upperend, considered with reference to its final position in the assembly, isreversely bent to provide a flange H which is spaced from and isparallel to the adjacent portion of the plate and defines therewith apocket I2. The bight of the bent portion of the plate includes anelongated aperture l3 for a, purpose presently explained. The oppositeor lower end of the plate may be reduced in width as at [4, andextending normally therefrom on the same side of the plate It) as theflange H is a pair of spaced ears ll5. Gut through the plate andincluded whollywithin the marginal outline thereof is an opening I6whose lower boundary is defined by an edge I! from which centrallyextends a tooth I8 that is positioned in the plane of the opening [6.The plate Ill may be originally formed as a stamping and subsequentlybent to provide the flange II and ears l5. V

The hanger pocket 12 isprovided to receive a swivel block [9 which maybe semi-cylindrical in shape and is transversely apertured at to receivea wood screw 2| which additionally ex tends through the elongatedaperture H for reference will now be made.

erally indicated in Fig. l.

attachment to a convenient supporting member, suchas a floor joist. Theblock [9 enables the plate 10 to swing relative to the screw 2| aspermitted by the elongated aperture I3. The opening 56 is intended toreceive a tank supporting strap 22, preferably made of flexible metal,which includes apertures 23 spaced along the length thereof while thetooth I 8 lockingly engages with one of these apertures, all aspresently described.

The manner in which a tank 24 is hoisted and held in operative positionis more particularly illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, to whichThe number of straps employed will generally depend upon the length andweight of the tank, but assuming that two straps are sufilcient, twospaced, hanger plates [0 are fastened to a first floor joist 25, forexample, by means of screws 2! which are equipped with swivel blocks I 9and, in opposite relation, another pair of hanger plates are similarlyattached to the next adjacent joist, as gen- The plates I0 arepreferably hung so that the ears I5 face away from the tank, therebyrendering them accessible for bending to clamp the strap 22. Thelocations of the screws 2! may be varied, i. e., they may be threaded inthe opposed faces of the joists 25, as actually shown, or in the loweredge faces of the joists. Considerations afiecting the placement of thescrews, where joists are involved, are the diameter of the tank and thespacing of the joists, as well as the final position of the tank. Itwill be understood that the joists 25 generally indicate any type ofsupporting member to which my improved strap hanger may be attached.

Considering the left hand plates 10, as viewed in Fig. 1, one end of astrap 22 is inserted through the opening I6 of one'of the plates [0 andbent downwardly to lie between the ears |5-l5. This bending is made at apoint such that the tooth I8 will project through one of the strapapertures 23, thus providing a locking engagement between the strap 22and the plate [0. The ears l5 are then bent to overlie and clamp the endof the strap against the plate and thus prevent any tendency of the bentstrap portion to straighten when subjected to the weight of the tank.The same procedure is followed with a second strap 22 for the other lefthand plate 56.

Both straps are then looped around the underside of the tank 26 which isresting on the cellar floor 28, for example, and the free extremities ofthe straps are respectively passed through the openings IS in the righthand plates H), the several parts occupying the relative positions shownin Fig. 1.

To hoist the tank, it is merely necessary to pull on the free end of oneof the straps 22 until one end of the tank is raised a distance suchthat it will not slip lengthwise along the straps,

whereupon the strap just pulled may be temporarily anchored by engagingone of its apertures 23 with the tooth 18 of the associated, right handplate [0. The free end of the other strap is then pulled to raise theother end of the tank from the floor and possibly above the opposite endof the tank, after which the latter strap may be temporarily anchored inits right hand plate l9 as indicated. Hence, by alternately pulling onthe respective straps, the tank is raised to the desired position, thenumber of separate pulls generally depending upon the distance throughwhich-the tank is to be raised. For

relatively short distances, one pull on each strap may be sufiicient.After the free end of each strap has been anchored by engagement with atooth 18, the excess part of each strap is cut away and the newextremities are bent downwardly and clamped by bending the ears l5 ofthe right hand plates I0.

The tank 24 may then be permanently suspended as shown in Fig. 3, or inany selected lower position, either parallel or at'any desired angle tothe joists 25. An outstanding advantage of this arrangement is itscapacity to hoist the tank in addition to performing its primaryfunction of supporting the tank. With tanks of the size contemplated,one man can hoist and suspend the tank, thus materially reducing laborcosts. A further advantage resides in the fact that the tank may beeasily taken down by simply bending backward the ears I 5 along one sideof the tank to unclamp one end of each strap and thereafter disengagethe latter ends from the teeth [8. I

If the ears I 5 fail for any reason, suc as where the plate It has beenused in a 11111 51361 of installations, the strap may be clamped y abolt and nut (not shown) which is passed through registering apertures23 in the strap and an aperture 27 in the plate. In installations whereit is not possible to use wood screws, such as where the permanentsupporting member comparable to the joists 25 is made of metal, thelatter may be drilled to receive bolts as substitutes for the Woodscrews.

I claim:

In tank hanger construction, the combination of a flat plate havinglaterally extending spacedv ears at its lower end and a reversely bentflange at its upper end forming a downwardly opening, curved pocket, theears and flange extending from the same side of the plate, the flangeincluding an elongated aperture, a swivel block rockable in the pocketand having fastening means extending through the elongated aperture forattaching'the plate in depending relation to a support, the plateincluding an opening there through and having a tooth extending into theopening from the lower portion. thereof, and a tank carrying, flat straphaving a reverselybent end providing opposed portions on opposite sidesof the plate and extending downwardly from the tooth, the bent portionof the strap being apertured to receive the tooth for locking engagementtherewith, one of the opposed portions being clamped against the plateby the ears.

WILLIAM J. MASONER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Number Name 278,506 Cassell May 29, 1883351,079 Teague Oct. 19, 1886 989,612, Kohn Apr. 18, 1911 1,375,917 LaPaugh Apr. 26, 1921 1,801,377 Sutlifi A r. 21, 1931 1,804,420 Kelly M y12, 1931 1,944,833 Barnes Ja 23, 1934 2,050,841 Haughton Au 11, 19362,286,118 Sleith June 9, 1942 2,433,523 Mahan et al. Dec. 30, 1947FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 569,330 Germany Jan. 12, 1933

